Sep 20, 2013 2 min read

A Fayette County man faces charges including endangering the welfare of children after tossing a young boy through an open window of a vehicle before fleeing from the Trinity Point parking lot after he was confronted by Walmart store security.

Jeremy Yothers, 25, of Hiller, was identified through both surveillance vehicle and by tracking down the owner of the vehicle he was driving last month.

South Strabane police were called Aug. 8 by security after a suspect, later identified as Yothers, fled from the store when confronted for allegedly stealing items.

Security told police that Yothers entered the store, pushing a shopping cart, with a young child. He reportedly selected DVD box sets, putting those in a Walmart bag.

He then placed men’s clothing in a diaper bag.

Yothers reportedly walked toward the exit when he realized he had left the child in the men’s department.

He retrieved the boy and was confronted by security when he tried to leave the store with the concealed merchandise.

Yothers told security that he wanted to take the boy out to the car to his wife.

Security escorted him to the car. As they got to the car, Yothers reportedly tossed the 2 1/2-year-old through an open window before jumping in the car and fleeing.

Police were able to get a license plate on the car and track it down to a Fredericktown woman.

She told police that Yothers was the likely driver and the boy was her grandson. She told police that Yothers is her daughter’s boyfriend. Police obtained a photo of Yothers and matched him to surveillance inside the store.

Charges of endangering the welfare of children, retail theft and driving without a license were filed by police Thursday at the office of District Judge Jay Weller.